Crime can occur can anywhere on campus.
In the shadows of live oaks of the Enchanted Forest or in a dark corner of the West Campus Apartments, no one area of campus is safer than another.
Data collected by The Daily Reveille shows six months of different types of crimes are evenly distributed throughout the campus, with the exception of assaults. Most assaults occur near on-campus residences as students return to their residence halls or on-campus apartments late at night.
One of the most common crimes on campus is breaking and entering into University buildings, which sometimes results in stolen items.
Tammy Millican, assistant director of Facility Services, said Facility Services is working with the LSU Police Department, LSU Human Resource Management and Risk Management to strike a balance between accessibility and public safety.
She said students and faculty still want access to buildings in the evenings, and they want to know their research is safe when they leave.
When a building is broken into, Facility Services determines whether the space is public, private or a lab, and if it needs to be rekeyed, Millican said. If the lab is private and the key is missing, the door may need to be rekeyed if it was broken into.
Sometimes doors or entire buildings need to be rekeyed, costing Facility Services about $100 to rekey each office door, Millican said.
Facility Services is working to implement electronic keys in University buildings. Keys can be matched with an individual if a crime occurs.
LSUPD spokesman Capt. Cory Lalonde said although these crimes are listed by the federal definition of breaking and entering, it does not always mean there is a forced entry — more often than not, doors are left unsecured.
“I think that’s one of our bigger battles, not only as a police department, but as a community,” Lalonde said. “A majority of crimes on campus are crimes of opportunity.”
Although there are 800 surveillance cameras on campus and patrol officers work through the night, Lalonde said crime still occurs. He encourages students, faculty and staff to take the extra time to secure their items when leaving them unattended.
“Card access is not a perfect system. We find that if one person blocks the door instead of using a card, you defeat the purpose of the system,” Lalonde said.
Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope said part of the problem with break-ins is the University’s lack of solidarity as a community.
“We don’t have a relationship of education about belonging to the campus and a want to respect it,” Cope said.
Break-ins are common, but when students walk campus alone late at night, they face the risk of assault or robbery. The most at-risk areas are near residence halls.
Although there are resources like Campus Transit or the potential for LSUPD escorts from student requests, some students still choose to walk alone.
Cope said the first step toward ensuring University safety is studying transportation patterns students follow at night, from the parking for students leaving Middleton Library in the evening to the Campus Transit service.
Lalonde said students should walk in groups or use the Campus Transit buses.
LSUPD always has officers actively patrolling the areas near residence halls — in parking lots or on-foot patrol. If a student does not feel safe, they can always call LSUPD.
The officers working with residential communities provide rides or escort students, Lalonde said, but cannot be everywhere at once.
Students should also avoid unlit areas, even if it means walking for five extra minutes, Lalonde said.
“While it’s inconvenient, it’s still the safer bet,” Lalonde said.
Millican said Facility Services understands students need safety when they are on campus in the evenings and they work to ensure all of campus is lit.
The Faculty Senate has studied lighting on campus previously, and Cope said the campus gives students the impression of darkness because of the live oak shadows, making it a hard problem to solve.

“We don’t have a relationship of education about belonging to the campus and a want to respect it.”